Prez poll: With 63% of votes in bag, Kovind win seems certain

The combined opposition has named former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar as its candidate for the presidential poll but NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind’s victory is a foregone conclusion, with 63.1% of the electoral college votes already in the bag.
Non-NDA parties supporting Kovind include JD (U) (1.91% of the votes), AIADMK (5.39%), BJD (2.99%), TRS (2%), YSRCP (1.53%) and INLD (0.38%). Both factions of AIADMK have offered support to the NDA candidate, giving Kovind a decisive edge over Meira.
There were initial fissures in NDA as its oldest ally Shiv Sena, which has 2.34% of the votes, was indecisive and termed Kovind’s candidature a vote-bank exercise to woo Dalit votes. However, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray later came out in support of the NDA candidate.
There was anticipation that Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party too would support Kovind, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, with SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati hinting at supporting the former Bihar governor. However, the two parties have finally decided to support Meira.
Meanwhile,NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind+ on Friday filed his nomination papers for the upcoming poll to elect the 15th President of India+ .
He was accompanied by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his trip to Parliament House to file his papers. Also with Kovind were several senior BJP leaders, some chief ministers of NDA-ruled states and senior leaders of other parties supporting his candidature.
Kovind is former governor of Bihar. In the Presidential election scheduled for July 17, he will face off with the Congress-led opposition candidate Meira Kumar, whose nomination was announced Thursday. Counting of votes is expected to take place on July 20.
The Shiv Sena, the Janata Dal (U) and the AIADMK, including O. Panneerselvam, have all backed Kovind’s candidature for the post of President. And with 63.1% of the electoral college votes already in the bag, Kovind is expected to be a shoo-in for the post.